Pastors

Beyond Bono

Is justice just a trend, or is it central to the church’s calling?

Leadership Journal July 8, 2010

The summer issue of Leadership is about a week away from mailboxes. The theme is “Beyond Bono: Doing justice God’s way is more than a fad.” In the last few years, there has been a dramatic rise in pop-cultural engagement with issues of justice and poverty. This trend is captured best by Bono–lead singer for U2. This video from a few years ago illustrates the celebrity-driven focus around justice.

But what about the rise of justice as an issue within the church? Can it be explained away by the visibility of stars like Bono, or is there something more going on? And what does it mean to move beyond emotion and guilt toward a biblical and theological foundation for our justice efforts? These topics and others are addressed in the summer issue of LJ. Some of the voices in the issue include:

John Ortberg on prophetic preaching

Bethany Hoang on the justice generation

Eugene Cho on the risks of getting personally involved in justice

Jim Wallis and Mark Dever debating the role of justice in the gospel

Mark Labberton on the cultural and theological roots of the trend

We’ll be posting excerpts, quotes, and videos from the summer issue in the coming days. And if you haven’t yet subscribed to get all the great content in each issue of Leadership, click on the cover on the left side of the screen for a special offer.

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